1916 #SherlockHolmes silent classic uncovered in Paris vault >> http://t.co/DxCnIfElv5 pic.twitter.com/0v7gMmwkQT
— National WWI Museum (@TheWWImuseum) October 6, 2014
William Gillette (1853-1937) was the actor who brought Sherlock Holmes to life on the stage and established much of the visual look we’ve come to associate with the sleuth. He also created the phrase, “it’s elementary.”
Gillette performed Sherlock on stage over 1,300 times. He made only one Sherlock film in 1916, which, until recently, was lost. The Cinémathèque Française recently announced the film was found in their archives where it had been improperly cataloged.
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| Image from The San Francisco Silent Film Festival (source link) |
The San Francisco Silent Festival is working with the Cinémathèque Française to restore and digitize the film. The US premier is scheduled for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in May 2015. I’m hoping the movie is also screened at Gillette Castle State Park.
William Gillette’s castle home is a fantastic historic site. I visited it in December 2011 and wrote a post about the visit that you can read here.